Strong values and ethics are the cornerstones of Mary Ellen Copeland’s work and the Copeland Center’s trainings. Facilitators must understand these ethics before leading Mental Health Recovery and WRAP groups and workshops to insure a supportive environment for learning. In addition, they need to review them from time to time. As they are facilitating the group, they review the concepts and make adjustments if there are any indications that the Values and Ethics are being violated. Facilitators give participants copies of this checklist to review from time to time and ask for suggested changes if the concepts are not being followed.
Each session supports the premise that there is hope, that people can get well, stay well for long periods of time, and do the things they want to do with their lives.
Indicators:
Participant responses indicate that they have or are developing a sense of hope.
__ Y __ N
Participants are making plans for their future that include recovery.
__ Y __ N
Self determination, personal responsibility, empowerment, and self-advocacy are key aspects of this program.
Indicators:
Participants share ways they have kept or have taken back control over their lives.
__ Y __ N
All topics reflect a focus on self-determination, empowerment, and self-advocacy.
__ Y __ N
The program supports workshop decision-making and personal sharing.
Indicators:
All decisions concerning the workshop are made by the workshop with participants deciding what issues are to be resolved.
__ Y __ N
Personal sharing within time and subject parameters is encouraged and supported.
__ Y __ N
Participants are treated as equals with dignity, compassion, mutual respect, and unconditional high regard.
Indicators:
Participants seem comfortable and at ease in the sessions.
__ Y __ N
Facilitator’s self-reports, and observations of each other, indicate that all participants are treated as equals with dignity, compassion, mutual respect, and unconditional high regard.
__ Y __ N
There is unconditional acceptance of each person as they are – as unique, special individuals, including acceptance of diversity with relation to culture, ethnicity, language, religion, race, gender, age, disability, sexual identity, and ‘readiness’ issues.
Indicators:
At each session, facilitators ask the workshop attendees if they feel they are being treated well, that their needs are being accommodated, and that the program supports diversity.
__ Y __ N
There are no discriminatory comments.
__ Y __ N
Facilitators make needed adjustments and accommodations.
__ Y __ N
This program is based on the premise that there are “no limits” to recovery.
Indicators:
All participant goals and plans are supported without judgment.
__ Y __ N
Participants are given the opportunity to explore choices and options, and are not expected to find simple, final answers.
Indicators:
Facilitators agree that the atmosphere at the session supported choice and options.
__ Y __ N
All participation is voluntary.
Indicators:
Facilitators agree that all participation was, in fact, voluntary.
__ Y __ N
It is understood that each person is the expert on her or himself.
Indicators:
Facilitators agree that participants were supported in speaking from their own experiences and making their own decisions based on their self-knowledge.
__ Y __ N
The focus is on individual strengths, and away from perceived deficits.
Indicators:
Facilitators and participants agree that the focus was on things that people do well, and that there were no negative judgments or deficit-based assessments.
__ Y __ N
Clinical, medical, and diagnostic language is avoided.
Indicators:
Facilitators agree that they did not use clinical, medical, and diagnostic language.
__ Y __ N
The focus is on peers working together and learning from each other to increase mutual understanding, knowledge, and promote wellness.
Indicators:
Each session includes several interactive exercises that include the entire workshop or smaller workshops.
__ Y __ N
The program emphasizes strategies that are simple and safe for anyone, and it stays away from strategies that may have harmful effects.
Indicators:
Facilitators and participants agree on which strategies are simple and safe, and moderate the discussion away from strategies that might have harmful side effects, directing participants to resources that will inform them on these topics.
__ Y __ N
Difficult feelings and behaviors are seen as normal responses to traumatic circumstances and in the context of what is happening, and not as symptoms or a diagnosis.
Indicators:
Facilitators react to difficult feelings and behaviors with compassion and support.
__ Y __ N
There is unconditional acceptance of all creative work and expressions that are created or brought to each session. This includes movement, sound, painting & drawing, collage, and three- dimensional construction. The creator is always in control of the work.
Indicators:
Facilitators comment on creative work using their own perspective, and encourage participants to do the same.
__ Y __ N
At each session, individuals or groups at workshops who created something decide what happens to it.
__ Y __ N
Mary Ellen Copeland, PhD, developed Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) with a group of people with lived experience who were attending a mental health recovery workshop in 1997. She is the original author of the WRAP Red Book, as well as dozens of other WRAP books and materials. She has dedicated the last 30 years of her life to learning from people who have mental health issues; discovering the simple, safe, non-invasive ways they get well, stay well, and move forward in their lives; and then sharing what she has learned with others through keynote addresses, trainings, and the development of books, curriculums, and other resources. Now that she is retired, and that, as she intended, others are continuing to share what she has learned, she continues to learn from those who have mental health issues and those who support them. She is a frequent contributor to this site.
